Henri Mouhot (May 15, 1826 — November 10, 1861) was a French naturalist and explorer, best known as the person who 'discovered' Angkor Wat. In fact Angkor was never lost — the location and existence of the entire series of sites was always known to the Khmers and had been visited by several westerners since the 16th century. However, it was Mouhot to popularise Angkor in the West. Perhaps none of the previous European visitors wrote as evocatively as Mouhot, who included interesting and detailed sketches.

1. Mouhot's tomb

He perished of malaria fever in the jungles of Laos on his 4th expedition just after visiting Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of the Lan Xang kingdom. He was buried near a French mission in Naphan, by the banks of the Nam Khan river. The French erected a modest monument over his grave six years later in 1867 that was replaced in 1887 by a more durable crypt monument. Mouhot's tomb was neglected and consumed by the jungle until it was accidentally rediscovered in 1990.

2. Location

JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to use Google Maps.However, it seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser. To view Google Maps, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options, and then try again.

3. Where to stay

There are plenty of hotels to select from in Luang Prabang. Just to name a few of the renovated mansions that were converted into hotels: Villa Santi Hotel, Mekong River View Hotel, Sayo River Guest House and finally our selection, Phousi Guesthouse. Each of them has numerous reasons why to stay there: Villa Santi is just on the major road connecting Wat Xieng Thong with the royal palace, Mekong River View and Sayo River Guest House face river Mekong, Phousi Guesthouse is very close to the royal palace in a side street.

Do you like this 360° virtual tour? Follow our RSS feed not to be up-to-date about our newest virtual tours.

Thank you very much in your interest in this article. If you like, it please share it with your friends.